Sr. Manager, Power Plant (Starship)

Senior Manager

SpaceX is building and operating combined-cycle gas turbine power plants that must come online, stay online, and perform. This role owns the design and build of the full power plant: gas turbines, mechanical and electrical balance of plant, and everything else that keeps the plant running at rated output, day after day. This is not a desk job. You will be constructing the power plant, owning commissioning in the control room during startup, and in the field troubleshooting.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and develop a multi-disciplinary power plant team spanning gas turbines, mechanical and electrical balance of plant, controls, and commissioning
• Own the full lifecycle of gas turbine power generation assets - installation, commissioning, startup, operations, and long-term maintenance - and be accountable for plant availability, reliability, and performance
• Set technical direction and execution plans for commissioning, including combustion tuning, control system checkout, protective relay testing, and performance/reliability run verification
• Own root-cause analysis and corrective action for turbine trips, forced outages, and performance degradation; drive fixes that prevent recurrence and hold the team to a no-repeat standard
• Establish and continuously improve operating procedures, startup/shutdown sequences, and abnormal operating condition playbooks
• Serve as the primary technical and commercial interface with OEMs (GE, Siemens Energy, Mitsubishi Power, Doosan) on warranty issues, LTSA scope, outage planning, and technical issues
• Plan, staff, and execute major/minor inspections, hot gas path outages, and combustion inspections in line with OEM maintenance intervals; own outage cost, duration, and quality of return-to-service
• Drive turbine performance analysis (heat rate, capacity factor, degradation curves) to identify efficiency losses and convert findings into funded corrective action
• Coordinate across balance-of-plant teams (HRSG, steam turbine, cooling systems, water treatment) to deliver integrated plant performance, not siloed subsystem success
• Own the construction-to-operations handoff with EPC contractors; ensure a clean transition from construction to commercial operation
• Develop and own spare parts strategy, critical spares inventory, and maintenance budgets; manage spend against reliability and availability targets
• Hire, coach, and retain engineers and technicians; set performance standards and grow the next generation of plant leadership
• Represent the power plant organization to internal stakeholders (operations, grid interconnection, commercial, construction) and make timely field decisions under pressure

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of experience working in one or more of the following; or 14+ years of experience working utility-scale gas turbines in commissioning, operations, maintenance, or plant engineering roles
• 2+ years of project management experience leading operations

Preferred Skills and Experiences

• Working knowledge of combined-cycle plant systems: gas turbines, HRSGs, steam turbines, generators, and balance-of-plant equipment
• Experience reading and interpreting P&IDs, single-line diagrams, and turbine control logic
• Direct commissioning or operations leadership experience with GE 7/9HA, Siemens Energy SGT6/8-8000H, Mitsubishi M501/701JAC, or Doosan H-class turbines
• Experience with DCS/turbine control platforms (Mark VIe, SPPA-T3000, or equivalent)
• Familiarity with LTSA structures, OEM contract negotiation, and outage scope development
• Background in root-cause failure analysis (RCA/5-Why/Fishbone) for rotating equipment
• Experience with performance monitoring tools and heat balance modeling
• Exposure to grid interconnection requirements, PPA performance obligations, or capacity market rules
• Experience integrating power generation with co-located industrial or data center loads
• Proven ownership of plant or fleet reliability metrics (availability, forced outage rate, heat rate) and of the budgets that fund them
• Experience standing up a new plant, commissioning organization, or operations team from construction through commercial operation
• A bias toward action: comfortable making a call in the field without waiting for a committee
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure during startup, outages, or unplanned events, with a sense of urgency and ownership over outcomes
• Experience using SOLIDWORKS, Siemens NX, or similar CAD software
• Knowledge of engineering standards and best practices such as ASME B31.3, ASME BPV Code Section VIII, and AFSPCMAN 91-710

Itar Requirements

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.